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A SKETCH 



OF THE LIFE OF 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON, 



BOEN AT 



AYLSHAM, NORFOLK, ENGLAND, 



October 29tli, 1791. -, 




Pro me : si merear, in uie. 

t>jprlolk mutco.) 



WASHINGTON : 
JOSEPH L. PEARSON, PRINTER. 



1878. 



.> 



Washington, Dec. 26t7i, 1878. 
To Dr. John B. Blake, 

President of the Association of the 

Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia. 

My Dear 8ir : In transmitting through you to the venerable 
Association over which you have so long presided, a small volume 
containing an account of the principal events of my life, now^ pro- 
tracted far beyond the allotted age of man, permit me, as a per- 
sonal friend of many years, to congratulate you on the distinction 
you have so worthily attained as the President of so notable a 
Body of men, and to thank the Members of the Association for 
the honor they have annually conferred upon me in designating 
me as one of their Vice-Presidents, and in continuing to me that 
honor for so many years. 

As one of the objects of this eminent Association is to preserve 
the traditions of past times in the biographies of its Members, and 
as a kind Providence has permitted me to mingle so long with my 
fellow-men in this city, and to have a somewhat extended experi- 
ence of its affairs, I hj^e thought it expedient to ask that this ac- 
count of ray life, and the events that have entered into it, may be 
preserved in the archives of the distinguished Association to which 
we belong. 

I trust, therefore, that the offering I herewith make may prove 
acceptable both to yourself and to the Members of the Associa- 
tion, And I take leave to add that, while the incidents recounted 
in this volume are mine, yet the glowing manner in which they 
are set forth belongs to my valued personal friend, the Rev. Dr. 
Sunderland, to whose communication I would respectfully call 
your attention. 

With sentiments of high esteem, I am. 
Truly yours, &c., 




THE ORIGIN OF THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL 
SKETCH. 



In the years 1877-'78 I had a number of very intimate conver- 
sations with Dr. William Gunton in reference to the story of his 
lono; career. I have known him personally for the last quarter of a 
century, and I felt a deep interest in knowing more of the specific 
incidents that have marked his life. By many questions, which I 
took the liberty of propounding, I drew out from him the facts 
on which the following Sketch was founded. The style I have 
adopted in presenting these facts is one for which I only am re- 
sponsible, and the work I have performed is one which I can sin- 
cerely call a labor of love. I have conceived it at least the most 
fitting offering I can lay on the altar of Memory to one whom it 
has been my privilege to know so long. And if its testimony shall 
prove as gratifying to his posterity as its preparation has been to 
myself, they will cherish it as among the most precious relics of 
his character and name. 



/f ^J^ 



Pastor First Fres. Church. 



Washington, Nov. 28th, 1878. 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON 



In the time of William the Conqueror, A. D. 1066-1087, 
the Guntons were a strong family among the gentry of Nor- 
folk. Their lands lay about midway between Norwich, the 
capital of the county, and Cromer, on the coast of the North 
Sea. Gunton Hall stood some four or five miles N. E. of 
Aylsham. The Gunton lands w^ere in Gunton, Marsham or 
Martham, Hemesby, Bailing, Worstede, and Castre. 

Matthew de Gunton was lord of the Manor in the reign 
of Henry I., A. D. 1122. 

His two sons Avere Roger and Thomas, who each had a 
moiety, styled Over Hall and Nether Hall. This division of 
the Gunton estate seems to have continued for a long period. 

Bartholomew de Gunton held one moiety or lordship in 
the reign of Kichard I., A. D. 1189. 

In the first year of King John, A. D. 1199, there was a 
pleading about lands in Martham and Hemesby between 
Walter de Bassingham and the Bishop of Norwich, in which . 
lands the family De Gunton had an important interest. 

In the eighth year of Henry HI., A. D. 1224, we find 
another Matthew de Gunton in possession, who had married 
Isabell, daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Castre, and who 
granted by fine to the Prior of Norwich the advowson of the 



Z DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

Church of Martham. He also, A. D. 1228, being lord of 
Castre in right of his wife, granted to Thomas de Castre and 
his heirs certain lands, services, and customs. 

We find also that Sir Roger de Gunton, son of this Sir 
Matthew, gave a messuage and land to God and the Church 
of the Holy Trinity of Norwich. 

The son of this Roger was again Sir Matthew de Gunton, 
whom we find in possession in the reign of Henry HI., 
A. D. 1235. His daughter Isabell married William de 
Stalham, to whom Sir Matthew granted a portion of his 
estates in Bailing and Worstede. 

We find John de Gunton, brother of this Sir Matthew, 
holding a moiety of the Gunton Manor in the reign of 
Edward L, A. D. 1277. This John died without issue, 
leaving his sisters and co-heirs — 

Isabella, wife of Roger de Bavent. 
Margaret, wife of John de Mithwold. 
Catherine, wife of Simon de Lincoln. 
Sibbilla, wife of John de Gyraingham. 
Juliana, wife of Simon Peche. 
In the reign of Edward II., A. D. 1323, we find a Sir 
Roger de Gunton, possessor of a moiety of the Gunton 
Manor, Rector of the Church of St. Andrews, and that he 
died that year. 

In the reign of Edward HI., A. D. 1343, we find another 
John de Gunton in possession. 

And in the same reign, A. D. 1347, we find a Sir Thomas 
de Gunton lord of the Manor of Langham. 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 6 

We next find Milicentia, daughter and heir of Sir Walter 
de Gunton, who married Sir Walter de Walcot, by whom 
she had a son, the second Sir Walter. 

This Sir Walter married Joan, daughter of Sir William 
Clopton. Four daughters and co-heirs were the issue of 
this marriage — 

Margaret, wife of Birney. 
Elizabeth, wife of Wylton. 
Catharine, wife of Dor ward. 
Margery, a nun of Carhow Abbey. 
Joan, granddaughter-in-law of Sir Walter de Gunton, 
and relict of Sir Walter de Walcot, then married Sir Roger 
Beauchamp, and after his death she obtained letters of ad- 
ministration on his estate, A. D. 1374. 

In the year A. D. 1781 a very full and accurate history 
of the county of Norfolk was published, from which it ap- 
pears that Gunton Hall was at that time the seat of Sir 
Harbord Harbord, and the following reference is made to 
the grounds and buildings : 

" Gunton Hall is at present a small honse, but is going to bo 
enlarged, and lias lately been ornamented with new offices under 
the direction of Mr. Wyatt. They are by far the most complete 
buildings for the purpose of anj^ in this Kingdom. Tiie new style 
of architecture is by its lightness and extreme elegance well 
adapted to offices, and these are particularly worthy the attention 
of strangers from the studied contrivance for conveniency in the 
apartments, as also for the slate covering, which consists of small 
square pieces of slate, each fastened with wood screws. 

Not far from the house is the parish Church, which, by the late 
Sir William Harbord. was taken down and rebuilt with a magniti- 



4 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

cent portico of the Doric order. This receives an additional degree 
of sanctity from two venerable druidical oaks which grace the 
front of it." 

The house and offices stand on an eminence, but as they 
were not sufficiently advanced to permit any drawn repre- 
sentation of them at the time of the publication of the 
history, only the Church, standing in the spacious park, 
could be illustrated by the work of the artist, the copy of 
which is here to be seen, showing the singularly venerable 
beauty of the Gunton Church and its noble environment. 

The Chronicles show, in process of time, that while the 
name of Gunton remained to the Hall, the lands were trans- 
ferred under other titles and many branches of the family 
became extinct. So that after the lapse of four hundred 
years, the date when this sketch should properly begin, 
there was but a single household of the name of Gunton 
in all that part of the country. 

This was the family of Mr. Thomas Gunton, attorney-at- 
law of Aylsham, who had married* Miss Jane Mendham of 
Lynn, a sister of the Rev. William Mendham, a dissenting 
minister at Briston. This family consisted of father, mother, 
and six children : Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, William, Har- 
riet, and Anne. 

William, the subject of this article, was born at Aylsham, 
Norfollv Co., Eng., Oct. 29th, 1791, and named for his ma- 
ternal uncle, William Mendham Gunton. The middle 
name, however, has been omitted, and he has long been 
known as Dr. William Gunton, his autograph "W. Gunton" 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. O 

being of the simplest possible form, but written in large 
bluff characters and connected by a peculiar link-like flourish 
so familiar to many eyes. How he acquired the title of 
Doctor will subsequently appear. 

Aylsham or (as pronounced) Elsham stands on a branch 
of the river Bure and directly in the route from Nor- 
wich, almost due north to Cromer, about eleven miles 
from the former, and ten from the latter place. A century 
ago it was a pretty market-town of some 4,000 people. It 
had been famous for the superiority of its linen textures, 
when the principal business of the place was the production 
of these fabrics. It then stood with its fine Church and 
Kectory, its principal inn, called the "Black Boys," its 
open streets and blocks of well-built stores and dwelling- 
houses, its spacious market-square, its extensive flour-mill, 
its high bridge over the Bure, its lately finished canal ter- 
minating at the bridge and raising high hopes of increased 
business in navigation, its chalybeate spring, once a great 
resort but now abandoned and hedged in by shrubs and 
primroses. Its principal school was kept by a clergyman, 
minister, or teacher, in his own residence, an ordinary three- 
story house, where he had some forty pupils, children of 
the well-to-do families, while there were some minor schools 
for children in humbler circumstances. Beside the usual 
holidays, it had two annual fairs, March 23d and September 
26th, and also Lammas day, which Avas August 1st, the day 
of the feast of fruits and paying in of tithes. The town was 
distant about one and a half miles from Blicklins: Hall 



6 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

and lake, the seat of a noble Baron, Henry Hobart. It 
was in a level country, much of which was covered with 
forest, where partridges, pheasants, and hares furnished 
abundant game, and where man-traps and spring-guns were 
thickly set to prevent poaching, quite prevalent in those 
days. 

The sports of the young consisted of races in the market- 
place, fishing and bathing in the stream, and skating on the 
lake of Blickling whenever the ice was sufficiently strong. 

In the days to which this narrative refers, the Bishop of 
Norwich, wdiose See embraced this region, was represented 
by his church Rector, a stout man of the name of Collyer, 
who was at the same time a Major of militia, Manager of 
balls, and Director of all ]olays enacted in the theatre, which 
was then a common barn-building turned into a play-house. 
And by virtue of all these high offices he got the tithes. 

The house of Mr. Attorney Gunton was a long two-story 
brick structure, with his office at the extreme end, a garden 
at the side, and a small yard fronting to the East. Here * 
for twenty years he continued the j^ractice of his profession — 
chiefly in civil suits — his business being not to plead, but 
carefully to prepare cases for counsellors who did. 

Meanwhile the children were growing up, and for some 
of the later years of this period, Thomas, the eldest, was 
employed in his father's office. At about the age of ten, 
William was sent to the principal school of the place, then 
in charge of the Rev. Mr. Allison. Here he continued for 
about four years, acquiring such knowledge of the English 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. / 

language and other rudiments as the elementary instruction 
of those times could impart. The boy soon took the head of 
his class, where with rare exceptions he remained. Indeed, 
he was noted for doing well all he undertook. Of a strong, 
vigorous English constitution, he was foremost among his 
companions in all athletic pastimes. He often stood in the 
mill-door, where few were privileged to be for the purpose, 
and fished in the stream which came rolling down the flume. 
Again, he would sport in the water below the mill, the finest 
of all the swimmers. Then he would speed over the glassy 
ice the most lithe and supple of the skaters. And again, 
he would be running races in the market-square, the fleetest 
of all the runners. 

This was the kind of boy he was — yet withal, exceedingly 
modest and easily abashed. An instance of this is told of 
him at a dinner at his Uncle Mendham's, in Briston. The 
principal dish was a roasted ox-heart, which, though highly 
relished by many people, the lad could not stomach. With 
abundance of it on his plate, he could neither swallow it nor 
else dispose of it. His plague all through the dinner hour 
was how to manage not to attract observation. Thankful 
when it was over, he will probably remember that dinner to 
the latest day of his life. 

The tide of emigration from Europe was about that time 
setting strongly outward. Many families had sought new 
fortunes in the Western world. There was scarcely any 
neighborhood in the British Islands from which some persons 
had not come to America. The new Republic was growing 



8 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

in popularity, and the National Government had established 
its seat at Washington. The cities of Alexandria and 
Georgetown were within the famous District, and the cur- 
rent of the broad Potomac rolled between them. Corres- 
pondence of adventurers with the friends at home stimulated 
still further the spirit of adventure. 

All this was passing in the mind of Mr. Thomas Gunton 
about the year A. D. 1806. Advising with friends, some 
counselled him to go to Buenos Ayres, but the scale of 
probabilities soon turned in favor of the land of the Stars 
and Stripes, and of the District of Columbia, as the point 
of destination. Accordingly he set about preparation to 
transplant his family on these Western shores — a far more 
formidable undertaking than the present generation are 
likely to conceive. Then, instead of what we now witness, 
but a single vessel in a year set out from Liverpool for 
Alexandria — and that was a sailing vessel — relatively small, 
with slender accommodations, many discomforts, and the 
voyage, even when prosperous, requiring nearly three months' 
time. 

But the decision made, his practice was given up, his 
furniture sold, and the house abandoned. His son Thomas 
found a place at a fair salary in the Law Office of Messrs. 
" Foster, Unthank and Foster," of Norwich, taking with 
him his mother and sisters to reside till they, too, could 
follow to America. 

The father and his son, William, armed with letters to a 
Mr. Thomas C. Wright, already settled in Georgetown, 



DR. T\TLLIAM GUNTON. 9 

made their way, in the spring of 1807, to Liverpool, taking 
on their route Wisbech and Peterborough, where they found 
acquaintances. It was between these places that William 
saw for the first and last time an English May-pole, which 
greatly delighted him ; and while stopping at the latter place 
a grand fete was in progress in honor of the day when some 
favored Englishman was attaining his majority. The town 
was in a blaze of enthusiasm, a whole ox was roasted, 
and some friends of William went out with him to share in 
the spectacle. On this day barrels of beer twenty-one 
years old, kept all that time in prospect, were broached, 
and freely dispensed among the people. William drank 
about a wineglass. When he got back to the Inn he was 
too weary to be able to pull off his boots ! The liquor had 
so fatigued him ! This was a cause of grief and mortifica- 
tion both to father and son, and left such a lesson behind it 
as the boy never forgot. 

Bidding their friends a long farewell, they reached Liver- 
pool and found they must there wait for the sailing vessel 
for many weeks. This time was spent by the father in mak- 
ing inquiries, arranging details, and preparing for the voy- 
age, while William, who then thought he would be a print- 
er, amused himself in one of the large printing establish- 
ments of the city, where he acquired an incipient taste for 
that business. 

But at length the day of departure came, and on July 
23d, 1807, the vessel, " WiUiam and John," dropped down 
the Mersey seeking the Western sea, and launched on a rough 



10 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

wild voyage. Captain Woodhouse, whose brother was first 
Mate, shared his quarters with Gildea, another sea-captain, 
now a passenger. The cabin was wholly occupied by Mr. 
Kincaid, wife, and four or five children, one of whom was 
already a young lady — people from Scotland. Mr. Kincaid 
was coming over to America in some official capacity, hav- 
ino: a friend in Mr. Patton, British Consul at Alexandria. 
Besides these, were the Guntons, Messrs. Gordon, Atkinson, 
Martin, and one or two others. 

The Kincaids had brought with them a barrel of oat-meal, 
which, in addition to the ship's fare, they esteemed quite a 
luxury. The first three weeks interfered somewhat with 
the appetites of the voyagers, but after that they could man- 
age anything but the oat-meal of the Scotchman. 

The captain was one of the most profane men when no 
serious danger threatened. He would walk the quarter- 
deck for hours, cursing the wind and sea and the God of both, 
and calling down on his ship all manner of imprecations. 
Mr. Gunton's blue coat with covered buttons giving him 
a somewhat clerical appearance, Mrs. Kincaid, alarmed at 
the amazing profanity of the commander, once requested 
him to speak to the captain, almost fearing that Providence 
might take him at his word and send them all to the bottom 
together. Yet it was very noticeable that when real dan- 
ger seemed impending the captain ceased his swearing and 
moved about with reverence or at least the gravity of silence. 

The long voyage was at last drawing to completion ; the 
vessel had sighted the Capes, and, while ascending the Chesa- 



DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 11 

peake Bay, at length hailed a schooner bound to Baltimore, 
which took one or two of the little company to that city, 
leaving the remainder to continue their voyage up the 
Potomac. And they were yet two weeks in reaching Alex- 
andria. During this fortnight the stores of the vessel hav- 
ing been well exhausted, supplies were drawn almost daily 
from the shore, the principal article of which, new to the 
emigrants, was the American yam (sweet potato), and 
which unfortunately seemed not to be a favorite with the 
new comers. 

As they were approaching the town on Saturday, the last 
day of the voyage. Master William, eager with expectation, 
was moving about the deck, when a strong whisk of wind 
striking across the vessel, between the main and mizzen 
mast, swept his hat overboard, and it was gone beyond re- 
covery. With bared head, thus the lad approached the 
soil of his future efforts and triumphs. 

But as the vessel drew to the dock at midnight the moon 
shone down in her full silver beauty, almost eclipsing the 
dancing lights which flickered here and there with a feeble 
ray. It was October 18th, 1807, and they were safe again 
on shore ! And though so far from home and family, yet 
with what gladness and heartfelt gratitude they proceeded 
to the "Marshall House," the first roof to shelter the 
strangers, and where their first breakfast was eaten on Sun- 
day morning, those can tell who have in a similar way 
escaped the perils of the great deep and found themselves 
once more on terra firma. 



12 DR. WrLLIA3I GTJNTOX. 

The boy had had enough of the ocean. He has never 
tried it since ! The first thing in the morning was to re- 
place his hat — a matter of some difficulty, it being the Sab- 
bath, and places of business closed. However, on explain- 
ing to a hat vendor the necessity, the scruple gave way, and 
the hat was forthcoming. Invitations came for supper at 
the house of Mr. Entwisle, an Englishman residing in the 
city, and the sa>me evening Mr. Gunton and son, and Messrs. 
Martin, Gordon, and Atkinson were seated at the table of 
their new-made friend, where they found a generous pro- 
vision and a hearty welcome. 

On the following day the Guntons found a small Packet, 
Captain McPherson, running to Georgetown, and at once 
availed themselves of the opportunity to reach their desti- 
nation. Anxious not to be set down at the wrong place, 
as soon as he stepped on board the Packet Mr. Gunton be- 
gan making inquiries of a group of passengers who were go- 
ing up the river, and, singularly enough, he found in the 
person who answered to his questions, a Mr. Cooj^er, an old 
friend whom he had known in Eno-land. This o-entleman, 
coming from Norwich, had been residing here a number of 
years and was able readily to give the desired information. 
On reaching Georgetown they soon found Mr. Wright, to 
whom their letters were directed, and who received them 
w^armly, and at once extended them the hospitality of his 
house. They found here also a Mr. Bell, who had pre- 
ceded them by a few months, and a number of gentlemen 
from England already in the employ of the Government, 



DK. WILLIAM GUNTON. 13 

among whom were Nicholas and Robert King, the former a 
surveyor, Mr. More, in the Land Office, John Gardner and 
Dr. Dinmore, also clerks under the Government, and others. 

His hope was to obtain a Government position, but as 
this was not feasible at this time, he opened a school in a 
house of Mr. Mecklin, between what was then known as the 
Six a.nd Seven Buildings, near the residence of the British 
Minister, on Pennsylvania avenue, having among his pupils 
a young girl who afterwards became the famous ' ' Mrs. 
Eaton." Belinquishing his school after a time, he became 
private tutor in the family of George Calvert, Esq., who 
resided at Riversdale, near Bladensburgh, and at the end of 
two years he obtained a clerkship in the Land Office, which 
he retained to the time of his death in 1821. 

Mr. Cooper had just undertaken to publish a small news- 
paper of octavo form, with John B. Colvin, editor. Into 
this office the son, Wilham Gunton, entered, with the pur- 
230se of following the business of a printer. But an expe- 
rience of a month or six weeks led to a distaste for this kind 
of life and prepared him for some more congenial pursuit. 
About that time Dr. John Ott, a druggist of some years' 
standing in Georgetown, whose store was located at the cor- 
ner of Bridge and High streets, was in want of an attend- 
ant, and on speaking of it to Mr. Wright, the Doctor was 
advised by him to secure the service of the son of Mr. Gun- 
ton. Negotiation was at once opened, and William was 
apprenticed by his father to Dr. Ott. The terms of com- 
pensation were board and clothing and twenty-five dollars 



14 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

annually for spending-money. Thus the lad, boarding with 
Dr. Ott, settled down to the business of druggist, and so 
obtained the title of Doctor. 

Almost immediately on their arrival in America, meas- 
ures growing out of the difficulty between the ' ' Chesa- 
peake" and the " Leopard," suspended the entrance of Brit- 
ish vessels into American ports. First the embargo and 
then the non-intercourse law, lasting for several years, dis- 
sipated all hopes of the coming of that part of the family 
left behind in Norwich. The war with England ensued, 
and it was not till the year 1817 that the mother, sisters, 
and brother rejoined those who had preceded them hither. 

At this epoch Georgetown, first laid out in 1751 and in- 
corporated by the State of Maryland in 1789, was virtually 
the principal place of business east of the Potomac in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. A cluster of houses at the i**J^avy-yard 
had been rapidly collected, but between these two points, 
Washington, the Capital City, though surveyed and mapped 
out, lay in almost virgin nakedness. The grand avenue of 
Pennsylvania, running from one extreme to the other, had 
indeed been opened, as had also parts of other streets in its 
vicinity. The buildings in the city could then easily be 
counted. Near the Georgetowii Circle stood the Six and 
Seven Buildings, and in the vicinity the boarding-house of 
Mr. William O'Neal, the father of the noAv noted Mrs. 
Eaton. About \Yhere the Treasury Building now stands 
were three or four houses. Near what is the corner of 12th 
street and the Avenue were two or three more. Near the 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 15 

corner of 7th street and the x^ venue were one or two build- 
ings, in one of Avhich a Mr. Samuel Harrison Smith had 
established a newspaper, styled the " National Intelligencer," 
a journal which afterwards obtained a most enviable reputa- 
tion, and was long continued by his successors, Messrs. Gales 
& Sea ton, as the principal newspaper of the Capital. Near 
by was a little building called the "Marsh Market," which 
has since been replaced by the splendid structure of the 
Center Market of this day. Further along, on Capitol Hill, 
was Long's Hotel, quite famous in its day as a resort of the 
public men of the nation ; and finally the city tapered off 
in a dozen brick-yards, which extended doAvn to the river it- 
self But most of the area of the National Capital was then 
covered Avith bushes and undergrowth, which fell off here 
and there into pasture grounds and commons, or terminated 
in slashes and marshes. Nearly the whole of the lower 
part of what is now called the Mall was then a piece of 
wet, marshy ground covered w4th reeds and wancopins, 
where sj^ortsmen shot ortolan, where cattle formed paths in 
zigzag courses, where negroes hunted straying cows with 
thikling bells about their necks, and where fishermen often 
took their spoil, especially at full tide. Many parts of the 
Avenue touched the water's edge, and the road was "cordu- 
roy." Logs were piled in to fill up the mud-holes and 
miry places along the route. Once crossing the Avenue at 
7th street, our young druggist lost a shoe, which sank into 
the ooze and was with some difficulty recovered. 

But Jefferson, who was then President, in his second 



16 DR. WILLIA^VI GUNTON. 

term, did much to improve this avenue and had it lined on 
either side with a double row of poplars. 

The Executive Mansion was even then not altogether 
finished, and the Capitol had been rendered tenantable only 
in certain parts. As the observer looks around him now he 
must see with wonder the contrast which seventy years have 
made. Dr. Gunton is one of the very few men who can 
look back in Washington over so long a space. 

Beginning empty-handed, but with principles and habits 
from which he has never swerved, he showed his early qual- 
ities during his six years with Dr. Ott. He was not long in 
becoming familiar with every branch of the business to 
which he was devoted, and his value to the establishment 
soon became manifest. 

This was due as well to his excellent home training as to 
the ideas of salutary subjection to the fundamental principles 
of business economy which were then observed. For at the 
period when the young apprentice was on the threshold of 
his career, the sentiments of society had not suffered the re- 
laxation which to-day so lamentably prevails. The avenues 
of business were not then filled with a throng of adventurers 
inflated with the notions of speculation and extravagance, 
and intoxicated with the prospect of amassing sudden and 
enormous fortunes. A more rational estimate of the legiti- 
mate gains of business then controlled the judgment and as- 
pirations of individuals. Young men were content to work 
out a term of years which gave them little more than a de- 
cent and comfortable living. They still recognized the force 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 17 

of authority and the propriety of subordination ; and if, on 
attaining their majority, they had well mastered the knowl- 
edge of their chosen pursuit, they considered it a fortunate 
preparation for the subsequent exercise of a more direct and 
personal responsibility. 

And withal there was less dissatisfaction and complaint, 
and less restlessness under restraint in that state of things 
than under the loose and irresponsible system which has 
since prevailed. Young men of bright faculties spent their 
energies for their employers in good faith, sustained by the 
consciousness of duty faithfully discharged, and inspired by 
the conviction that those rugged virtues would certainly 
meet with a due reward. 

Such, at least, was the feeling of the young man in the 
store of Dr. Ott. Under this close attention to business, 
this almost precocious gravity of character, there lurked, 
however, a spirit of humor which frequently enlivened the 
routine dullness of business and became the standing theme 
of laughter in the circle of friends. One instance of this 
is remembered to this day. An English family had arrived 
in Georgetown, from the same neighborhood with the Gun- 
tons, in Norfolk. They had been, in their old home, in the 
laundry business, and rather struggling with proverty for 
many years. But once set down in their new homes in 
these Western wilds, they affected superior airs, and fre- 
quently spoke of the shijjs which their family owned and 
through which they had plied a wealthy trade to Yarmouth. 
These unseemly boastings from people who had obtained a 
2 



18 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

livelihood by washing clothes for the inhabitants of Nor- 
wich, rather excited some surprise among the rest of the 
English emigrants, and one day Mr. Cooper, speaking with 
young Gunton, asked: "What sort of ships do you suppose 
they had in Norfolk ?" To which William quickly replied : 
"I know of no ships they could have had, unless they were 
hard-ships .'" 

It was about this time that the idea of soda-water foun- 
tains came into vogue. John Hart, a well known Quaker 
druggist of Philadelphia, with whom Dr. Ott had been an 
apprentice, had devised an apparatus for charging cooled 
water with carbonic acid gas, and thus furnishing a very 
acceptable beverage. To charge an ordinary fountain with 
this gas required some twenty pounds of acid and some 
forty-eight hours in the process. Dr. Hart at once set 
about the introduction of his invention. Dr. Talbot, 
another Quaker druggist of Baltimore, had one of these 
fountains put up in his establishment. Georgetown could 
not be left behind, and Dr. Ott purchased an apparatus at 
a cost of $1,700. It was a complicated and clumsy aifair, 
set up in the cellar, and giving results not equal to the an- 
ticipation. After inspecting the working of the apparatus 
in Baltimore and making some trials of his own, the worthy 
Doctor became discouraged, and in his despair offered $1,000 
to any one who would take it off his hands. While matters 
stood thus. Dr. Charles Beatty, a prominent physician of 
Georgetown, who was often in the store, one day said, "Turn 
it over to Gunton." "No," replied the young man, "I 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 19 

know nothing about it." But, nevertheless, it was turned 
over to him, and seeing the question thus forced upon him 
he commenced to study it, determined to succeed with it if 
success were possible. 

The apparatus consisted of a large hogshead to hold the 
acid, the water, and the pulverized marble. This connected 
by pipes with a half-barrel partially filled with water, which 
again connected with an air-pump, and this with the copper 
cylinder or agitator containing two water-fountains, from 
which pipes led down to four other fountains buried in the 
earth-floor of the cellar. After the materials had been 
placed, the process was, to force the fixed air into the agita- 
tor and then to press the impregnated water into the buried 
fountains, whence the beverage was drawn for sale. But there 
were many defects about the operation which young Gunton 
set himself to overcome. He first dispensed with the half- 
barrel, he then changed the position of the valves in the air- 
pump. He next got rid of the cylinder, and finally resurrected 
the buried fountains themselves, had them bound with iron, 
which was soundly done by Mr. Shaw, the white-smith, and 
thus made the whole apparatus more simple and effective. 
While this was going on letters were dispatched to the in- 
ventor asking his advice on the changes proposed, to which 
the astute Quaker, invariably replied, withholding his assent. 
Nevertheless, the changes were made with most gratifying 
results. But a single difficulty remained to be overcome. 
The common air filled about a third part of the fountains 
and decidedly interfered with the proper impregnation. A 



20 DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

brilliant thought struck the youthful philosopher, which 
was, first, to fill the fi^untains with water, thus expelling 
the common air altogether, and then to pump out the re- 
quired quantity, leaving space fi^r the fixed air, Avhich was 
then fi:)rced in. When these things were accomplished and 
about two- thirds of the original apparatus dispensed with, 
the remainder was so much improved that it now required 
for charging an ordinary fountain only twenty minutes time 
and about six pounds of acid. In fact, the young druggist 
had produced an almost entire new apparatus, the product 
of which his patrons pronounced one of great superiority. 
The Ott soda-fountain became immensely popular, and in 
that single year it cleared for him the handsome sum of 
two thousand dollars. 

But it was all owing to the pluck and ingenuity of young 
William, who really should be regarded as the second 
father of soda-fountains in America. This unexampled 
success after so great a depression, filled the heart of Dr. 
Ott with pride and pleasure. The finishing-stroke was 
given to the apparatus, when some small zinc tubes sur- 
rounded by ice were added to produce the degree of cool- 
ness in the beverage, on a sultry day, which so much con- 
tributed to its favor. The generosity of the worthy Doctor 
toward his ingenious and thoughtful assistant was sensibly 
excited, and he began to talk of further allowances in case 
another year should prove as profitable as the first. 

But time rolled on, and the indenture one day expired, 
leaving William Gunton his own free-man. The alterna- 



DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 21 

tive was then placed before him to enter into partnership 
with his recent emj)loyer, to have a salary of $150 per annum, 
or to set U23 for himself and take goods from the store, or 
have letters of credit to other business firms where he might 
desire to make transactions. While holding the matter 
under consideration, he continued another six months in 
the store. He had hitherto been treated as a subordinate 
in the family of the Otts. He felt that this distinction 
ought now to cease. But comparatively trifling as it was, 
a matter of sitting at the second table, it was not changed, 
and upon the trial of half a year, young Gunton concluded 
to leave his old employer and set up for himself. The 
question of location which now arose before him was settled 
by one circumstance. Mrs. Ott, being an invalid, was going 
up to Frederick, in Maryland, hoping for the benefit of this 
temporary change. Young Gunton was requested to go 
with her. His observation while there determined him to 
open his store in that place. The Germans formed a con- 
siderable proportion of its population, and there were two 
small shops kept by men of that nationality, but they were 
of a very inferior grade, and indeed the business of a drug- 
gist in that locality gave but a slender promise of success ; 
and of some fifty persons to whom he bore letters of intro- 
duction, there was but a single man who gave him any 
encouragement. But confident in his o^vn plans and rely- 
ing on making a business far superior to that which the 
people of the town had known, he arranged with Dr. Ott 
to take stock from the store in Georgetown, first to the 



22 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

amount of $2,200, together with a soda-fountain costing 
$190. So equipped, he opened his place of business in 
Frederick and went to work with two Dutchmen for his 
competitors, He had much to do to overcome the difficul- 
ties of the beginning. First he had to set up the soda- 
fountain, next to provide an ice-house. For this, was 
needed a quantity of plank. He repaired to an old man 
by the name of Howard, a hypochondriac, who had a saw- 
mill some three or four miles away. Some prior work in the 
mill furnished its owner with an excuse, and the plank 
could not be sawn. But the young druggist, not to be 
bluffed, unfolded his enterprise to the singular old gentleman. 
He pointed out the benfits of the soda-fountain to those 
who were afflicted as Howard was. By this powerful 
allurement he fired the old man's enthusiasm and he 
became a lively convert to the utility of the soda-water. 
The other work was set aside and the plank for the ice- 
house were sj)eedily secured. Then the plans of the new- 
comer were rapidly carried (jut, much to the astonishment 
of the staid old town. Finding it necessary to a branch of 
his business, he bought out the two confectioners of the 
place and commenced the manufacture of candy on a larger 
scale. 

But there was still another difficulty which his genius 
had to overcome. The currency of the country was in a 
lamentable state. Turnpikes were then as prominent an 
institution as railroads are in our day. To facilitate the 
business of the public, these companies issued scrip or shin- 



DR. WILLIAIM GUNTON. 23 

plasters of all conceivable amounts and kinds. These were 
paid for all kinds of purchases, and every night the till of 
the apothecary would be full of them. How to negotiate 
them for actual money became a serious question. A Mr. 
Joseph Talbot was the keeper of one of the leading hotels 
of the town. He was in the receipt of considerable money 
from travellers stopping at his house. With him an ar- 
rangement was soon effected, by which this scrip was ex- 
changed for valid currency. By this means the Doctor 
(for by this time he had well earned the title) was enabled 
to send down to his quondam princii3al, Dr. Ott, first two 
hundred, then three hundred, and finally two thousand 
dollars, in payment of the liability of his original outfit. 
This unexampled success aroused the feeling of the latter 
gentleman, who began to think he had made a great mistake 
in not insisting upon the partnership, and drew forth from 
him a rather lugubrious and querulous letter upon the sub- 
ject. However, it was now too late to mend the matter, 
and the establishment at Frederick went on prospering and 
to prosper. 

Its energetic head had shown not only a faculty for in- 
vention and enterprise, but a far-reaching financiering abil- 
ity, which thus early pointed him out as a shrewd and safe 
manager of capital in perilous and sinking times. 

Many and curious were the incidents which enlivened the 
scenes in that store at Frederick. Two brothers of the name 
of Darnell, rough men and almost outlaws, were living then 
in the vicinity. They were reckless fellows and a terror 



24 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

to tiie community. One day they entered the store to- 
gether, and were immediately attracted by the soda-foun- 
tain. " What the d 1 is that," cried one of them. Upon 

explanation of its use they immediately contracted, for one 
dollar, to drink it dry. After swallowing sixteen glasses 
they gave it up, planked down the dollar, and left the store 
in disgust, remarking as they went, "There is no bottom 
to the d n thing, anyhow." 

A Mr. Fischer, who was a hatter, lived in the town. 
His son, Mr. Wm. Fischer, was then a young man, and 
about a year after the store was opened by Dr. Gunton, he 
accepted young Fischer as an attendant. This ultimately 
led to his marriage into the Gunton family. 

On going to Frederick, Dr. Gunton had leased a build- 
ing for the term of five years, unless it should in the 
meantime be sold. On the ground-floor he conducted his 
business, while the stories above were occupied by the 
family of the clergyman of the place, the Rev. Patrick 
Davidson, of which Miss Hester Livingstone Brown, his 
wife's sister, born in Carlisle, Pa., was then a member. 
This lady the young Doctor married in the year 1816. 
She was a devout Christian, and a faithful member of 
the Presbyterian Church. At the end of the first year 
this property was sold, thus compelling Dr. Gunton to 
seek another stand. This was soon found on the oppo- 
site side of the street, where he had a house to himself, 
that was far better suited to his purpose and his trade. In 
the following year, 1817, the event which had been so 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 25 

long anticipated transpired. Tlie fatlier and son were 
joined by the rest of the family who had been left behind 
in Norwich many years before. Landing in Baltimore, 
they came thence immediately to their friends. The party 
consisted of the mother, the brother Thomas, and the four 
sisters, Elizabeth, Mary, Harriet, and Anne. 

The father, then living at 18th street, in Washington, 
near what was then known as ' ' The Seven Buildings," took 
to his home his wife and the three children, Thomas, Eliza- 
beth, and Mary, while the Doctor took his two younger sis- 
ters, Harriet and Anne, to reside with him in Frederick. 

The son, Thomas, had scarcely been a week in Wash- 
ington, before he obtained a position in the Capitol, through 
the kind offices of Mr. P. R. Fendall and Richard Bland 
Lee. 

Mr. Peter Hagner was then the Third Auditor of the 
Treasury, and the young Englishman being a very fine ac- 
countant, materially assisted him in preparing his various 
reports on the great question of Horse claims and claims 
on other matters, then passing through the office. These 
reports obtained great eclat for their clearness and ability, 
and were highly lauded by such men as Elisha Whittlesey, 
who was then in Congress. This naturally reflected no 
little credit on Thomas Gunton, who for many years held 
a responsible position in the Treasury, and whose accuracy 
and ability were long after recognized in the most flattering 
terms by such men as Silas Wright, Daniel Webster, and 
many others. For a period of three or four years, through 



26 DR. TVTT.LIA]\r GUNTON. 

political changes, he was out of office, but when Mr. Whit- 
tlesey hecame First Comptroller of the Treasury he was re- 
instated, and continued in his place, trusted and honored, 
and universally respected till the day of his death. 

Meantime events went forward with the Doctor at Fred- 
erick, and by the judgment and energy with which his busi- 
ness was conducted he was already counted as a capitalist. 
He continued business transactions with Dr. Ott till the 
date of that gentleman's death in the year 1818. In his 
last illness he sent for Dr. Gunton and proposed to sell him 
his stock. But Madam Ott, his second wife, who had a 
brother in the store, was opposed to this arrangement, 
and supposed she had broken it off. However, it was 
a brother of Dr. Ott who had established a drug-store 
in Washington, on the site of the house now occupied by 
Dr. James C. Hall, on Pennsylvania avenue, between 9th 
and 10th streets northwest. This brother dying in 1820, 
his business was left in the hands of his administrators, 
Messrs. Bradley and Richie. Dr. Gunton had now deter- 
mined to establish himself in Washington, and accordingly 
he sold out his store in Frederick to his friend, Mr. William 
Fischer, at first with the hope of purchasing that of the 
late Dr. David Ott ; but as delay was occasioned by a con- 
troversy between the administrators, after waiting for sev- 
eral months he made a purchase of the property at the cor- 
ner of 9th street and Pennsylvania avenue, to which he 
added the adjoining house. Over the drug-store, in the 
spacious rooms above, he installed his family, and there for 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 27 

many years they all resided. He had accumulated about 
$20,000 durhig his six years business in Frederick, and his 
first real-estate purchase in Washington cost him $9,000, 
while he paid $5,000 in addition for the stock of his store. 
A few years after, he paid $6,000 for the adjoining house, 
and in both buildings made several alterations and im- 
provements. 

Here for a number of years he carried on a most thriving 
business, being largely patronized by the many public men 
and noted women of the time. Not a few were the inci- 
dents which created amusement at the Doctor's drug-store 
which soon grew famous for the purity and excellence of 
the articles exposed for sale. In those days Calomel and 
Jalap were largely in demand, and the well-known Colonel 
Bassett, then a member of Congress from Virginia, once 
remarked to the Doctor that " his medicines were of the 
most powerful and sovereign efficacy he had ever known." 
" Why," said the Colonel, " all I have to do is to put them 
in my vest-pocket and carry them about a few days and 
they are certain to cure !" 

The famous John Eandolph, of Roanoke, then in Con- 
gress, once purchased some medicine of the Doctor and paid 
him in Virginia money, for which he received in change 
some bills of United States money. There was some 
discount at that time on the currency of the Banks of the 
*'01d Dominion." The next day Randolph apj)eared at 
the counter and confronted the Doctor, with the words of 
his shrill, woman's voice, "Yesterday you made a mis- 



28 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

take, Sir ! a serious mistake, Sir I I have come to-day to 
see about it, Sir !" The Doctor, who was always the most 
careful in putting up his orders, began to be alarmed and to 
search for the Prescription on his files, supposing it was the 
wrong medicine he had given out, and solicitous about all 
imaginable evil consequences of any blunder he might have 
made. His interlocutor, whose well-known propensity for 
a joke led him to view Avith high glee the Doctor's evident 
anxiety, at last relieved his suspense by calling out, " Oh, 
it is not the medicine — that's all right. Sir ; but I gave you 
Virginia money and you did not give me Virginia money in 
change !" It is needless to say this was a relief to the per- 
turbed mind of the Doctor. 

Before coming to Washington for business, the Doctor 
had purchased a quantity of stock of the Patriotic Bank, 
then a Banking Establishment of the city, with which a 
number of prominent citizens and men in Government office 
were connected — the well-known Messrs. Bradley, of Wash- 
ington, being among them. While the Bank was doing an 
active business with the public, its affairs were loosely con- 
ducted, and the books really in great confusion. One day 
Mr. Stephen Pleasonton, the Fifth Auditor of the Treas- 
ury, said to Dr. Gunton : " We have determined to make 
you a Director of the Bank !" And much to his surjDrise, 
at the next meeting of the Board, he was so elected. As 
the Doctor had a somewhat inquiring turn of mind concern- 
ing affairs in Svhich he was responsible, he soon discovered 
that the business of the Bank was managed in tlie most 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 29 

careless manner, and that a new order of things was im- 
peratively demanded. He immediately set about the work 
of reform in the conduct of the business. But as his views 
Avere not accepted by other parties involved, the matter 
soon broke out into open controversy. This unhappy con- 
flict was protracted for several years, both in the courts and 
out of them, until at length the differences were adjusted, 
the course of the Doctor fully vindicated, and his opponents 
virtually acknowledged him to have been in the right. 
But not desiring any further experience of this kind, hav- 
ing been removed from the Board of Directors in 1828, he 
sold out his stock and terminated all connection with the 
Patriotic Bank. The records of this somewhat celebrated 
strife are all extant ; but as it belongs to the tale of other 
days, it would be manifestly inexpedient and certainly un- 
necessary for any legitimate purpose to introduce them 
here. 

Meanwhile another institution, the now well-known "Old 
Bank of Washington," had been running on much in the 
same way under an incompetent management, and its af- 
fairs had become so complicated that in the year 1834 it 
was obliged to suspend operations, with the j^rospect of 
being ultimately wound up altogether. Mr. Thomas Mun- 
roe, its President, was a fair but timid and ineflicient man. 
He spent his summers at some watering-place, leaving the 
Bank to get on for itself Its debts to the United States 
Bank, then still in existence, and to other important banks, 
were increasing instead of diminishing, and altogether the 



30 DK. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

outlook was very discouraging. In this exigency Mr. Hel- 
len, a lawyer of Washington, and a large stockholder in 
the Bank, applied to Dr. Gunton to become a member of 
the Board of Directors. His objections to this step were 
very strong, remembering his former experience, but they 
were finally overcome by the earnest entreaty of Mr. Helleu 
and others, and he consented to go in for a month to ascer- 
tain the situation and see if it admitted of redress. The 
Bank had undoubtedly fallen into discredit, but the Doctor, 
after thorough examination, found it could be placed on a 
safe and reliable basis. Its debt was about $80,000. Dr. 
Gunton having business on his own account with the Bank 
of the United States, was brought in contact with the 
Cashier, Mr. Richard Smith, about this time. The Bank of 
Washington was then very largely indebted to the United 
States Bank, and Mr. Smith complained to the Doctor that 
he had been unkindly treated in his attempt to adjust the 
matter. He had offered to take in payment the discounted 
paper of the Bank of Washington, and the Board of Direc- 
tors would not listen to it. Upon this information Doctor 
Gunton, who had then been elected President pro tempore, 
called the Directors together, w^ho agreed to the proposal. 
He then had to make arrangements for a debt of $20,000 
held by the Bank of the Metropolis, and for another debt 
of $20,000 held by a New York bank. To succeed in this 
effort he j)roposed to borrow $25,000 on a note to be signed 
by the individual members of the Board, and other stock- 
holders, and all did sign it but Mr. Munrcje, the President 



DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. , 31 

of the Bank, who declared that before putting his signature 
to the note he would resign his office. The money was, 
however, obtained, and Dr. Gunton, afterwards, in January, 
1835, was elected President of the Bank, a position which, 
after the lapse of forty-three years, he still holds. In four 
months after he entered it, the Bank resumed operations, 
and in one year from that date all its liabilities had been 
paid. 

During the period from 1837 to 1844 a deep prejudice 
against the banks of the country seems to have pervaded 
the Congress of the United States, and under its influence 
the National Legislature determined not to grant or renew 
any further bank charters. The banks of the District of 
Columbia were on the eve of the expiration of their charters, 
and suffered more than those in any other part of the 
country from the disposition of Congress to make the Dis- 
trict a scene of all manner of financial experiments. The 
prospect of the future was dark indeed. In this emer- 
gency separate meetings of the stockholders of the several 
banks in the District were called, and a general concert of 
action ensued by which the respective Cashiers of the sev- 
eral banks were ordered to transfer all descrijDtions of the 
property of the banks to Trustees appointed by the stock- 
holders, with power to transact the business of the banks 
as nearly as possible in conformity with the former banking 
usages. This prevailing hostility to the banking system 
as it then existed, in connection with the individual re- 
sponsibilities which the stockholders were obliged to as- 



32 



DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 



sume, had a most depressing effect, and the stock of the 
Bank could be readily bought at that time at a discount 
of forty per cent. 

But by the faithfulness and energy of its new President 
this state of things soon passed away. The Bank has gone 
through the most severe money panics that have transpired 
in the country, but during all of them it has maintained its 
character, being among the last to suspend specie payments 
and the first to resume ; and during the last four years of 
deep financial embarrassment, so general and wide-spread, 
it has proved to be one of the firmest and most prosperous 
institutions in the country. And to-day, after an experi- 
ence of nearly thirty-five years, this Bank has declared 
dividends equal to nearly half a million of dollars. And 
the stock of the Bank cannot now be purchased for forty 
per cent, above par. And though there are about seventy 
stockholders, yet such is the general confidence in the man- 
agement of the Bank, that although frequent applications 
have been made for the purchase of its stock, not a single 
share has changed hands for a number of years past. This 
is the highest praise that can be accorded to its manage- 
ment and to its venerable and honored President. 

Of course a business career so established and successful 
could not fail to point out the man who made it, for other 
positions of trust and dignity. It is only necessary to enu- 
merate the organizations with which the name of Dr. 
Gunton has been at one time or other during the last fifty 
years associated, to realize how busy and responsible his 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 33 

life has been, and how large a place he has filled in the 
community. 

In addition to his seven years connection with the Patri- 
otic Bank as Director, and his forty-five years connection 
with the Bank of Washington, he was President of the 
Eastern Branch Bridge Company and of the Navy-yard 
Bridge Company until the sale of the bridges to the General 
Government. He was for eight years a Director of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. For twelve years 
he was Foreman of the Grand Jury of the District of Co- 
lumbia. For fourteen years he was a member of the Wash- 
ington City Government. Since 1847 he has been a Di- 
rector of the Columbian University, and he was recently 
elected Vice-President of the Board. Since 1846 he has 
been a Director of the American Colonization Society. 
Since 1836 he has been President of the Columbia Turn- 
pike-roads Company. For sixteen years he was a member, 
and for seven years of the time, the President of the Board 
of Trustees of the National Hospital for the Insane. But 
in June, 1877, his commission expired, though not without 
the regrets of those with whom he had been so responsibly 
and so happily associated. This is an appointment by the 
President of the United States, and was tendered to Dr. 
Gunton under a number of Administrations. He was also 
President of the Baltimore and Washino-ton Navisfation 
Company. More recently he has become a Director in the 
Washington and Georgetown Street-Railroad Company. 
He is Vice-President of the Oldest Inhabitants' Association 
3 



34 DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

of the District of Columbia. In 1841 he was elected Chair- 
man of the Temporal Committee of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Washington, and was annually elected to the 
same position for a period of twenty-five years. Since 1828 
he has been President of the Washington, Alexandria and 
Georgetown Steam Packet Company, which for many years 
iiept a line of steamers plying, by the Potomac River and 
the Chesapeake Bay, between Georgetown and Baltimore. 
In 1844 an invention called "The Sickles Cut-off" was 
patented, and the parties professing to own the patent pro- 
posed to Dr. Gunton, as the President of this company, to 
put on one of the boats, called the " Columbia," this "Cut- 
off," at their own expense, in order to test its utility, and 
with the special object of bringing it to the favorable notice 
of the Navy Department of the General Government, and 
with the understanding that if it did not succeed, the owners 
of it would, after a certain time, remove it without cost to 
the company, and restore the vessel to its former condition. 
But if, upon experiment, the invention should be approved • 
by the company, then they were to have the use of it on as 
low terms as the steamer "Augusta" or any other vessel 
using it. On these terms the patentees were allowed to put 
their invention on the boat. After some months time these 
parties sent in to the company a bill for a certain amount, 
which they claimed as due them for the use of their patent. 
Dr. Gunton replied to them, stating his understanding of the 
terms of the verbal agreement and reciting the delays and 
disadvantages which had resulted from a failure to make 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 35 

good their representations. They then instituted suit against 
the company in the Courts of the District to collect the sums 
claimed to be due, from time to time, upon a calculation 
made by them under the terms of their pretended contract. 
The verdicts in the lower Courts were usually rendered 
against the company under the exceptions allowed by these 
Courts. On these proceedings, the cases Avere severally ap- 
pealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, with the 
exception of the case in the year 1856, which, through the 
culpable negligence of the attorney of the company, in 
failing to prepare and present the case before the Supreme 
Court as he should have done within the time which the 
rules prescribed, was, on this account, summarily dismissed 
with costs. The effect of this was to exact from the company 
the sum of three thousand dollars, besides a large bill of costs. 
In all the other cases the decisions of the lower Courts were 
invariably reversed, and the further efforts of these claimants 
have resulted in a final reference of the case, which is now 
so narrowed down that the interest is comparatively trifling, 
and the controversy may be regarded as virtually at an 
end. 

But all the documents show how a case of litigation may 
be commenced and carried on for a period of forty years by 
a set of unscrupulous men, and the culpable negligence of 
attorneys, and how all of them may continue to make large 
sums of money out of individuals or Corporations who have 
the ability to pay, and who are thus forced by the techni- 
calties of the law to reward them in their chicanery. It has 



36 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

become one of the famous cases in the records of the Courts 
of the District of Columbia, and the "Sickles Cut-off" case 
will long be remembered by the Washington Bar as one of 
the most successful rivals of the British suits in Chancery. 

Dr. Gunton was also President of the old Perseverance 
Fire Company, which many years ago rendered valuable 
service in the protection of the property of the city. He was 
likewise a stockholder in the Firemen's Insurance Company 
of Washington and Georgetown from the beginning, and 
was elected its first President, J'uly 28th, 1837, which office 
he held for three years, Avhen he was succeeded in it by his 
estimable friend, the late Mr. James Adams, who continued 
in it till the time of his death. He was likewise in the 
Uniformed Volunteer Artillery Company of Captain Peter 
Force, and was afterwards offered the captaincy of a militia 
company of the District, which honor his advancing years 
and other numerous engagements — it being in a time of pro- 
found peace — constrained him to decline. 

During the terrible crisis of the late civil war he was 
among the foremost of American citizens in his loyally to 
the Government of the Union, and, though exempt by age 
from military service, he procured a substitute, and thus 
represented himself among the soldiers who fought for the 
preservation of the Union, and rendered a noble example 
of the devotion of a man who, though born on English soil, 
was yet fired with a lofty zeal for the triumph of the cause 
of his adopted country, and for the sovereignty of the Stars 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 37 

and Stripes, to which his early allegiance had been given, 
and which he rejoices now to see floating over every part of 
the domain of an undivided Republic. 

In all these stations of trust and responsibility Dr. Gun- 
ton has never failed to command the entire respect and 
confidence of the community, and his name thus came to 
be a tower of strength to any cause to which he was dis- 
posed to lend it. In 1838 his affairs had so extended that 
he gave up the business of the store and sold out the stock 
and patronage. 

Through a comprehension which time has justified, and a 
far-seeing discretion, he extended his business with his 
growing years. His investments in real estate have greatly 
increased in value, while his profits from various other 
sources have steadily appreciated, till now his income is 
considerable — so ample that it would be both delicate and 
difficult to say precisely what it is. He has carried the 
same care and caution, with a proportionate success, into 
all his public trusts, so that on the whole, his life as a busi- 
ness man can only be regarded as one of the most impressive 
examples of stern integrity, unfaltering diligence, and sound 
judgment, totally distinct from the wild spirit of specula- 
tion and colossal adventures which has ruined, in later 
times, so many men of mark. 

Though Dr. Gunton has been so long engaged in the 
public and private undertakings already indicated, these, 
by no means, complete the sum of his manifold labors. 
His aid has often been extended in many other directions — 



38 DE. ^VTXLIAM GUNTON. 

in the management of difficult and complicated estates ; in 
the enlargement of churches, and the countless objects of 
philanthropy and charity that have made to him their in- 
cessant appeals. In these, as in all other instances, he 
has never courted publicity, never sought for display or 
ostentation. Fond of old friends, old places, old associa- 
tions, and clinging to them with the greatest tenacity, his 
mode of living may be described as one of economical abun- 
dance and elegant simplicity. It is only within a few years 
past that he has been persuaded to quit his old quarters at 
the corner of Ninth street, and remove to his new dwelling 
on K street — a spacious, substantial brick edifice, with 
every modern convenience, and fittingly furnished, not for 
extravagance, but for all propriety and comfort. 

The family of the Guntons have, however, suffered the 
vicissitudes of nature. Mr. Fischer, having purchased the 
business in Frederick, was married to Miss Harriet Gunton, 
in the house of her brother, at the corner of Ninth street. 
The next day, in conveying his bride homeward, his vicious 
horse kicked the carriage to pieces. This was somewhat of 
a dolorous omen, but they were fortunate in escaping with 
their lives. He continued his business in Frederick till the 
year 1833, when he disposed of it to his brother and removed 
to Washington. He purchased and opened a store for Sta- 
tionery, which stood on the site next to what is now known 
as the "Shepherd Building," on the corner of Twelfth 
street and Pennsylvania avenue. This business he pursued 
tiU his death. 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 89 

Mrs. Thomas Giinton, the mother, died in 1818. 

Mr. Thomas Gunton, the father, died in 1821. 

xlfter this tlie members of the family, excepting the 
Fischers and their sister Anne, lived together for many 
years in the old dwelling of Dr. Giinton at the corner of 
Ninth street. 

To Dr. Gunton were born the following children : 

Mary Jane, who was married to Mr. Edward Temple in 
1862. Mr. Temple is Vice-President of the Bank of Wash- 
ington and engaged in other public enterprises, and for 
many years has been a well-known and highly esteemed 
member of the community. 

Harriet Anne, who died in 1837. 

Thomas, who died in infancy. 

Elizabeth, who, in 1841, married the Rev. Dr. William 
Ives Budington, for many years a distinguished Minister of 
the Congregational Denomination, and for nearly a quarter 
of a century Pastor of the Clinton Avenue Church in the 
City of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; and— 

William Alexander, who married Miss Mary R. M. Mul- 
likin in 1848. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Fischer were born several children, 
the only surviving one being Harriet Anne Fischer, who 
married Mr. Wm. C. Zantzinger. 

Mrs. Dr. William Gunton died in 1839. 

Their daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Gunton Budington, 
died in 1854, leaving her husband, Rev. Dr. Budington, 
and their survivins: children. 



40 DR. WILLIAM GUXTOX. 

Mrs. William A. Gunton died in 1853, leaving her hus- 
band and two children ; one of which only now survives, 
and several months after — 

Mr. William A. Gunton, her husband, was killed by 
being thrown from a horse on Eleventh street southwest, 
near the river, in 1854. 

This was a peculiarly afflictive stroke to his father and 
family, as by his death the name becomes extinct, and with 
it the light of. a rare example of the young manhood of the 
times. A graduate of Yale College in 1847 — favored with 
all that parental fondness or generosity could bestow — his 
mind informed, his taste attuned to the embellishments of 
art, his character ennobled by classic influence and polished 
in the schools — of a spirit, at the same time, simple and de- 
vout — he died lamented by many friends, and his memory 
will be forever cherished by those ^vho knevr him best. 

Mr.Thomas Gunton, brother;of Dr. Gunton, died in 1853. 

The sister, Ehzabeth, died in 1858. 

The sister, Mary, died in 1876. 

The sister, Anne, in 1877. 

The brother-in-law, Mr. William Fischer, died in 1852. 

His wife, Mrs. Harriet Fischer, died in 1859. 

So of all this noted family, very many have passed 
away, leaving but a remnant of the once wide circle that 
in other days surrounded Dr. William Gunton as the cen- 
tral figure. 

There remain now the following of the family blood and 
name: 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 41 

Dr. William Gunton, in the 88th year of his age, still as 
vigorous and active as a man of three-score years. 

Mr. Edward Temple, husband of his daughter. 

Mrs. Mary Jane Gunton Temple, his sole surviving child. 

The children of his daughter, Elizabeth Gunton Buding- 
ton, namely : 

Elizabeth Hester Budington, who married Dr. A. D. Will- 
son, a distinguished physician of Brooklyn, N. Y. , and who 
died in 1872. 

Mary Jane Budington, who married Mr. George AVilcox, 
an attorn ey-at-law of high standing. 

Dr. William Gunton Budington, a surgeon of some prom- 
inence, and unmarried. 

Julia Budington, who married Mr. F. E. Dana, a suc- 
cessful attorney-at-law ; and 

Thomas Gunton Budington, also recently married, and a* 
young gentleman of great promise. 

And also Mary M. Gunton, a daughter of Mr. William 
A. Gunton, who married Mr. Henry Carter, of Maryland, 
an engineer of marked ability in his profession. 

When Dr. Wm. Gunton settled in Washington in 1820, 
his wife became a member of the First Presbyterian Church 
of Washington, and subsequently his three daughters, and 
this Church has ever since been the home of the members 
of the Gunton family residing in Washington. 

Dr. William Gunton, though not himself a member of 
the Church, yet for many years identified himself effectu- 
ally with the congregation. 



42 DR. WTLLIAM GUNTON. 

His daughter, Mary Jane Gunton Temple, became a mem- 
ber of the Church in 1842, and so continues to this day. 

Her father, Dr. Gunton, was, in the prime of his life, a 
very pillar of support in many ways to the Church of his 
family, and took the most active interest in its prosperity. 
In the year 1859 the church edifice was remodeled and en- 
larged at a cost of $27,000. Dr. Gunton was Chairman of 
the Building Committee, and by his well-known ability of 
management and pecuniary aid he contributed more largely 
than any other single individual to the success of that im- 
portant enterprise, and the Church stands to this day as it 
was then left by him and his associates, a solid, massive 
brick building, with the largest audience-room of any 
Protestant Church in the city of Washington. Here it was 
that during the intense and troubled period of the great war 
for the Union, immense assemblies weekly gathered, and 
here the heart of Christian Patriotism from all quarters of 
the laud looked for words of encouragement in the darkest 
and most perilous periods of the conflict. 

Dr. Guntou's religious opinions have long been matters 
of conviction, and though differing in some things from the 
standards of faith and doctrine of the Presbyterian Church — 
so that he could not see his way clear to adopt them all, as 
a condition of church membership — yet his reverence for 
tlie Deity as our Heavenly Father was ever deep and al- 
ways openly avowed. His views of the mysteries of the 
relation of Christ to the divine and human nature, were the 
principal obstacles in his way. So that it resulted more 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 43 

from an intellectual estimate of the profound question, than 
from any promptings of his heart, that he felt the difficulty 
of coming to any conclusive decision concerning it. 

Perhaps the best indication of his idea of practical re- 
ligion may be found in the citation he wrote with his own 
hand in a Book of Common Prayer which some years since 
he gave to his granddaughter, Mrs. Willson : 

Micah 6:8. " He hath show^ed thee, O man, what is 
good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do 
justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy 
God." 

But he was never disposed to religious controversy, and 
never sought even to know, much less to cherish or to propa- 
gate the numberless cavils and soj^histries advanced against 
the doctrines of Christianity, and continuously expressed 
his earnest desire to believe and to adopt the exact truth, 
not only concerning the nature and mission of Jesus of 
Nazareth, but concerning every other essential teaching of 
the Word of God. And it is a circumstance to be specially 
noted in this connection, that he has never been actively 
associated with any congrega.tion save that of his wife and 
daughters during his long experience and course of life. 

In this Church, with the exception of a few brief inter- 
vals, he has always worshipped, and as a member of its 
congregation he is likely to continue to the day of his death. 

In personal aspect Dr. Gunton is one of the finest speci- 
mens of the physical man. In former days he was often 
described as " the handsome young Englishman." At full 



44 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

maturity he stood about five feet eight inches in height — 
of solid and well-proportioned form — with a head of regu- 
lar and impressive mould — his hair a dark brown, his eyes 
blue and of singular brightness and penetrating power ; an 
always smooth-shaven face, a complexion ruddy and indi- 
cating robust health, an expression of marked benignity 
mingled with determination, and an appearance altogether 
displaying a man of immense energy and endurance. 

And when to this it is added that he has been a man of 
pure and simple habits and associations — that he was tem- 
perate almost to the degree of abstinence ; that he never 
chewed nor smoked tobacco ; that he never made a bet of 
any sort ; that he never indulged in any of the hundred 
modes of men who resort to what may be called gambling 
or speculation ; that he was as ignorant of the places of 
vice and dissipation in cities as a child unborn ; that he 
would have no associates of questionable virtue, or who 
could influence him to doubtful courses ; that even his ordi- 
nary conversation was remarkably free from the vulgar 
profanity which too sadly mars the speech of many men ; 
that he resolutely subjected himself to the laws of health ; 
and systematically apportioned his sleep, food, and exercise 
to the requirements of an un vitiated nature ; — these things 
afford some clue at least to the secret of his long and pros- 
perous life, and give a grateful insight into the constitution 
of the man. These were from the first the settled princi- 
ples of his character. With habits of strict sobriety in all 
things, and an unswerving attention to the legitimate busi- 



DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 45 

ness in hand ; with a quick sense of obligation to every 
trust imposed in him ; with the highest notions of integrity, 
honesty, and honor ; with a life of singular system, temper- 
ance, and moderation, and with the most rigid ideas of 
economy, frugality, and independence, and yet at the same 
time with a spirit of modesty, a shrinking from all desire 
for show and ostentation, he was one who could not fail to 
gain the public confidence and to achieve a large success, 
while at the same time he was setting an example for all 
young men, most worthy of imitation. 

Such has been the history of one of the most notable men 
now living in the Capital of the Nation, and in looking upon 
the example it brings before us, it may confidently be said 
that no man has been more free from that which can im- 
pair human character, or do injury to society, than he 
has been. Living through a long period — the most event- 
ful and portentous — with a wide business acquaintance, and 
a most practical knowledge of affairs, at times involved in 
complicated and difficult questions of dispute, representing 
immense property interests, not all of which have escaped 
the contests of the law, he has never failed to make good his 
chosen position, or to be vindicated at last by the verdict of 
revolving time. 

Approaching as nearly as the imperfection of all human 
nature will admit, to the standard of an unsullied manhood, 
he may be said to be a child of that good fortune which an 
all-wise Providence sometimes vouchsafes to the most fav- 
ored sons of men. 



46 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 

Let the young men of our coming generations study the 
principles of such a character — imitate the virtues on which 
nearly a whole century has set the seal of approbation, and 
this great Republic, this intense American civilization, will 
be built up upon elements stainless as the honor of the 
storied Diana, free and lasting as the rocks of our eternal 
hills. 



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